Gracious and Loving Father,
 
Hear our prayer for the National Health Service in all the pressures it is up against as these winter months set in.
 
We think of consultants, surgeons, doctors and nurses in our hospitals, struggling to cope with ever growing demand. The challenges of the Covid-19 Virus; of GP practices and their staff attempting to cope with ever more patients; of hospital departments endeavouring to limit patient waiting times. For those who work behind the scenes in our hospitals, we seek your blessing.
 
We bring to you in prayer our ambulance drivers and paramedics. We think of care workers in the community seeking to support
the old,
the disabled,
or the dying,
striving to offer the best possible care.
 
For all who reach out to the sick and dying, hear our prayer for them and their families.

​Saint Teresa’s offers a variety of opportunities and reaches out to welcome parish members who wish to become more actively involved in the social, spiritual and organisational life of the parish faith community.
 
These are still difficult times. Covid-19 has changed the way we reach out. Parish life still carries on. Our commitment to serve one another and the Lord is still at the top of the list.
 
So, at Saint Teresa’s opportunities to serve include liturgical ministries such as lector, extraordinary Eucharistic minister, hospitality minister and music ministry; catechetical ministries; outreach to the sick and housebound; ministry to the elderly and much more. We also offer you the chance to join the Legion of Mary, the SVP and Ministry to Youth.
 
Please keep in mind that becoming more active in any faith community is a bit like getting to know your in-laws; it takes time and patience on both sides to fit in – much less change – the customary way in how the community does things.  God bless you – and please let us know if you like to get more involved.

On Friday the 10th December we will be holding a day of Thanksgiving to Saint Joseph and Healing.
 
9am Adoration
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Rosary
12noon Holy Mass
Anointing of the Sick

Article from Vatican News:
 
Pope Francis began a new series of reflections on St Joseph at yesterday's General Audience. He explained that "today, as never before, in this time marked by a global crisis," St Joseph can offer us "support, consolation, and guidance."
 
As the year of St Joseph draws to a close, the Pope said he hoped his reflections might "further help us to allow ourselves to be enlightened by his example and by his witness."
 
The Holy Father began his teaching with a reflection on the biblical context of the life of St Joseph. Recalling the figure of Joseph, the son of Jacob, in the Old Testament, Pope Francis noted that the name "Joseph" - Hebrew for "may God increase, may God give growth" - is "a wish, a blessing based on trust in God's providence and referring especially to fertility and raising children." This, he said, "reveals an essential aspect of Joseph of Nazareth's personality. He is a man full of faith in God, in His providence."

Pope Francis went on to consider the places associated with St Joseph, especially Bethlehem and Nazareth, which "assume an important role in our understanding" of the saint.
 
Bethlehem, he said, means "house of bread" or, in Arabic, "house of meat," both expressions that are full of significances in light of the Incarnation and the Eucharist. Bethlehem also recalls the story of Ruth, the great grandmother of David the king, from whom Joseph traces his descent; as well as the prophecy of Micah, who foretold the coming of the Messiah from Bethlehem.
 
While Jerusalem was "the city loved by the Lord, the 'holy city'," it was Bethlehem and Nazareth, both outlying villages, "far from the clamour of the news and the powers of the time" that are most associated with Saint Joseph. "The choice of Bethlehem and Nazareth tells us that the periphery and marginality are preferred by God," Pope Francis said. "Failure to take this fact seriously is equivalent to not taking seriously the Gospel and the work of God."
 
Jesus goes out especially in search of those on the peripheries, not only sinners, but also "those who have done no evil but have suffered it: the sick, the hungry, the poor, the least."
 
Now, as then, the Pope said, "there is a centre and a periphery" in society; and, as in the time of Jesus, "the Church knows that she is called to proclaim the good news from the periphery." Here St Joseph can be an example, reminding each of us to accord special importance "to what others cast aside." In this sense, the Pope said, St Joseph "is truly a master of the essential: he reminds us that what truly matters does not attract our attention, but requires patient discernment to be discovered and appreciated."
 
Pope Francis asked us to pray for Joseph's intercession, "that the whole Church might recover this insight," adding, "Let us start again from Bethlehem, let us start again from Nazareth."
 
And to all those living on the geographical or existential peripheries, the Pope had this message: "May you find in Saint Joseph the witness and protector to whom you can look."
 
Concluding his catechesis, Pope Francis offered the following prayer to St Joseph:
 
Saint Joseph,
you who always trusted God,
and made your choices
guided by His providence
teach us not to count so much on our own plans
but on His plan of love.
 
You who come from the peripheries
help us to convert our gaze
and to prefer what the world discards and marginalises.
 
Comfort those who feel alone
and support those who work silently
to defend life and human dignity. Amen.

If you are considering becoming a Catholic or you are a baptised Catholic who is considering completing your Sacraments of Initiation (Confirmation, Holy Eucharist) our Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) can help you.
 
Please speak with one of the priests or our parish Deacon.  Because of Cofid-19 we are adapting our parish programme to make it easier for you.
 
The RCIA process is designed to offer you guidance and support in your spiritual journey towards a deepening relationship with Jesus.
Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday 1st December at 6.30pm.